Week 13: Russell Henley wins the Shell Houston Open to earn his spot at The Masters

PGA Tour- Shell Houston Open

Russell Henley no longer gets to take a week off, and he couldn't be happier.

He's going to the Masters.

Henley overcame a four-shot deficit Sunday at the Shell Houston Open by closing with a 7-under 65 for a three-shot victory, one of the most important final rounds of his career. Only later did he realize it might have his best.

He made 10 birdies. He never went more than two holes without a birdie.

Henley ran off five of them in the opening eight holes to briefly catch up to Sung Kang, only to make a double bogey from the bunker on the par-3 ninth at the Golf Club of Houston. Only the 27-year-old from Georgia was just getting warmed up.

The decisive stretch came on the par-5 13th, where Henley and Kang were tied for the lead. Henley pitched to 3 feet for birdie, while Kang missed from 15 feet. On the par-3 14th, Henley rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt on the fast greens, cut to try to mimic what players will face at Augusta National. Kang did well to save par from 6 feet. And then Henley raced out to a three-shot advantage with another up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 15th.

He finished with a bogey for 20-under 268, three shots ahead of Kang.

Rickie Fowler was never in the picture. He made a double bogey with a wild drive on the second hole, and then got hit driver off the deck into the water on the par-5 fourth hole to drop another shot. Fowler trailed by as many as seven shots until a flurry of birdies late in the round when it was out of reach.

"Just an alignment problem that just caused me to make a couple bad swings, cost me a few shots," Fowler said. "Nice that I got it turned around and started to make some good swings and made some birdies and fought back, got a good finish out of it. Obviously, yeah, I would have like to have gotten off to a better start."

Jon Rahm, the 22-year-old rookie from Spain, closed with a 67 and tied for 10th, his fourth consecutive top 10 as he heads to Augusta National for his Masters debut.

Henley won for the third time in his PGA TOUR career, and his first since a playoff victory over Rory McIlroy in the 2014 Honda Classic. He was in danger of missing the Masters for the second straight year until winning the Shell Houston Open, the only way into Augusta National at this point.

"I wasn't expecting to go back to Augusta," he said. "I was planning on not going, but I was going to try my best to win. So, the fact I get to go back is pretty cool and I'm excited. It hasn't really sunk in yet."

Pro Golf Tour- Open Tazegzout

What an impressive show: After being in the lead for two rounds German Nicolai von Dellingshausen secured himself the trophy of the Open Tazegzout 2017 on day three. On the magnificent par-72 course of the Tazegzout Golf in Morocco the man from Düsseldorf scored 10 under par (64, 73, 69) and won his first tournament as a professional. Dylan Boshart finished the event on the second rank, which makes him the most successful player of the Pro Golf Tour Morocco series 2017 and also earning a wildcard for the Trophée Hassan II.

World Ranking: McIlroy jumps back into the World top 10 & Tournaments Roundup